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(No Model.) Y

` R. BIGKEMBYER.

FULLING MILL.

` lhvrrnn' Sfrnfrns-` .PATENT Ormea.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER, oF YoNKERs, NEW YORK.

FULLING-MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,901, dated December11,1883, Application led October 12, 1888. (No model.)

v all wzfom/ t may concern: 4

Be it known that I, RUDOLFEICKEMEYER, of Yonkers, in the county ofWestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fulling-Mills and I do hereby declare that the followingspecification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished andforming apart thereof, is aclear, true, and complete description of theseveral features of my invention.

My said improvements are applicable to that general class offulling-mills which embody a beater or falling-stock, whether it bevibrated to and fro, as shown and described in the Letters Patent of M.Chase, No. 4,361, dated January 20, 1846, or lifted and dropped, like ahammer,l as illustrated in the Letters Patent of Angelo Cattaneo, March3, 1868,

No. 75,122, and also in my prior Letters Patent I Nos. 144,841 and195,810, respectively dated November 25, 1873, and October 2, 1877, andit is immaterial what mechanism be employed for operating the beater,although I -prefer. that shown and claimed in my 'said Letters PatentNo. 195,810, and also shown in the Letters Patent of W. C. Varing, No.248.587, dated October 18, 1881.

While generally applicable as described, my said improvements relatespecially to that particular class of beater or fulling-stock mills inwhich is employed, as the front ofthe fullingbed, a hinged apron, asillustratedin said Letters Patent of Chase and Cattaneo, in my ownLetters Patent No. 144,841, and also in the aforesaid Letters Patent ofWaring, No.

248,537. In said Letters Patent of Chase the hinged apron is Shown ascoupled by a link to the beater-helve, and by said Cattaneo the hingedapron was shown to be coupled by a rod or link and an eccentric to ashaft driven -by a belt from the main shaft of the mill, and

in said Letters Patent of Waring the hinged apronv is coupled to thebeater-lifting mechanism, so that in all cases said aprons are vibratedduring the movements of the beaters co-operating therewith. The hingedapron described in my aforesaid Letters Patent No. 144,841 is notautomaticallyl vibrated, but it is provided with means whereby it maybe, by

hand, readily moved inward and outward, and

also -.with means whereby it may `be iixedly set or adjusted withreference to the workingface of the beater, and thereby vary the capacity of the fulling-bed and correspondingly change its form; but thehinged aprons,'as

which enables the throw of said apron to be varied, but said connectingmechanism is so organized that its adjustment can' only be effectedwhile the mill is at rest; and therefore in practical use said mills areonce adjusted for working on a given number of hats at a time, and, whenin service, in each case as a charge of goods decreases in bulk,incident to felting, pieces of felt are successively intro` duced intothe bed, for so occupying the-space therein that the goods may befurther .com` pressed and tumbled, and thereby continue the feltingoperation to the desired extent.

With this reference to the state of the art in fulling-mills of theclass referred to, the na-v ture'of my improvements should be readilyunderstood, from the fact that my improved beater-mill differs from allothers known to me', in that'while it is at work the vibrating apron canbe so adjusted as to progressively decrease (or, if desired, increase)the internal capacity of the fulling-bed, and to thereby so change theform of the bed as to cause the beater to variably operate upon thelgoods within the bed, and this I deem to be a novel feature ofconsiderable practicable value.

To particularly describe -my invention, I will refer to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 represents partially in side view and invertical section so much of a beater fullipg-mill as is deemed necessaryfor illustrating the application thereto of my improvements. Figs. 2, 3,and 4 represent in side views the hinged apron andits vibrating andadjusting mechanism in various positions, as will be hereinafterdescribed. Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively detached *front and top viewsof the vibrating and adjusting mechanism.

As here show-n, the frame A, fulling-bed -B,

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2 5. These `bell-crank levers e are connected to the hinged apron C,beater D, and its helve E are all substantially Vas heretofore. Nomechan ism for operating thebeater is here shown, because, ashereinbefore indicated, it in no manner pertains to my presentinvention. The vibratorymovement of the hinged apron C is provided forby means of a hinged connection with the beater-helve. A rock-shaft, a,is mounted crosswise in the frame A at the front of the mill, and itcarries loosely a pair of levers or arms, b, each of which extends inopposite directions from said shaft, so as to rock thereon. These arms bare connected at their inner ends by a rod, b', to which the lower endof a link, c, is pivoted, and the upper endof said link is pivoted tothe outer end of a bracket-arm, d, projecting from the -under'sideof thebeater-helve E, so that asthe 'beater is lifted and droppedv the arms bare rocked upon said lrock-shaft `by the longitudinal freciprocation -ofsaid link c. Tightly mounted von said rock-shaft is a pair'ofcounterpart bell-crank levers, c, pivotally connectedat their inner endsbylinks j' to the rear orback-of the hinged apron C, nearits top.

loosely-mounted rocking levers or armsb lby means of the adjustinghand-screw g. The pair of bell-crank levers e are coupled at theirouter'ends by a cylindrical block or bar, JL, which lis swiveled oraxially .mounted in said levers, and it is diametrically boredcentrally, to afford a loose bearing or yoke for the neck of vthe:hand-screw g, 'between its crank and a collar-nut, h, on the threadedportion of the screw. rlhe two rocking levers or arms b are similarlyconnected at their outer ends by a .similar axiallyniounted block orbar, b, similarly-bored, buttapped to serve as a swivelnut for receivingthe said screw, so that when the latter is turned to and fro therelative positi'ons-of the bell-crank levers and thearms 'b will'beaxially changed, and correspondingly advance or retire the upper end ofthehinged apron toward or from the working-face of the beater. It isobviously immaterial which Aof the twopairs of ylevers is loose on therockshaft, `or whether both are loose thereon, so far as relates to theadjusting action `of the screw.- A When the beater is lifted, it will beseen that the upper endof the link c will be moved inwardly in thearc-of acircle of which the belve-,pivot z' is the center, and that theapron()` will be thereby movedforfwardlyuntil the upper end of said linkis in line with .the belve-pivot i, and the pivot at -b at `the lowerend of said link, and that as soon as the beater begins its fallingmovement the"apron commences to retire, but concludes its movement atthe moment the beater `has completed its drop 'and is in fullvcompressing contact with thegoods within the bed. 1

.ln Fig. 1 the apron C isshown in the position which affords thegreatestinternal capacity of the fulling-bed and with the beater Ain its 'lowestposition, while in Fig. 2, with the same adjustment by the screw, theapron is shown with its top in its most advanced position, as when thebeater has been fully lifted. In Figs. 3 and 4 the adjusting-screw g isso turned as to separate the outer ends of the levers b and e to theirfullest extent, which throws the upper end of the apron forward into aposition which affords a minimum capacity of the fulling-bed an dradically changes the form of said bed. In Fig. 3 the apron C is shownas when the beater is in its lowest position, and in Fig. 4 as when thebeater has been fully elevated, and in all the possible variations ofadjustment the rangefofvibra tory movement by the apron will besubstantially uniform. lt will be readily seen that the screw f/ servesas a means for practically extending and for reducing the distance be,-tween the outer end of the link c and the point of connection betweentheapron Gand links f, and that the arms I) and levers ke serve ascoupling` media between the links c and j', andv therefore it will beobvious that approximately desirable results will accrue if the klink cbe constructed in two equal parts or vlengths oppositely threaded, andconnected at their coincident ends by a sleeve having internal right andleft hand threads, and a handwheel for readilylengthening and shorteningthe link, in lieu of the screw g; -and with that construction the leversZ and c may both be connected to the rock-shaft, or they may be in onepiece, or said levers may be dispensed with, in which case the link cwillbe of proper length to be connected directly with the apron C; anditis to `be understood that l deem such variations IOO in constructionand arrangement of the mech- .i

anism for connecting the apron G with .any movable part of the mill aswithin the 'main portion'of my invention, provided the handscrew or itsequivalent be employed for varying the position of said apro'n, kasdescribed. As a rule, I prefer to rely upon connections between thebeater-helve and apron; but the latter may, without departure from myinvention, receive its motion from a cam-shaft for lifting the beaters,as described in my aforesaid Letters Patent No. 195,810, and also iasshown in said Letters Patent of Varing, No. 248,537; or said apron maybe vibrated,1'as shown in the aforesaid Letters Fatentof Gattaneo, froma belt-driven shaft connected 'to the apron by an eccentric and rod,becauselthe latter can be readily lengthened or shortened by asleeve-nut having a hand-wheel,as.here inbefore indicated, and therebywhile the mill is in motion enable the desired variation in the workingrelations of the apron andthe beater.

Fulling-mills embodying my present improvements are of special value infulling yor sizing felt-hat bodies; but it is obvious that they can beprofitably employed for falling other classes of goods. f

Having thus described my invention, I claim kas new and desireto secureby Letters Patent-.- 1. The combination, substantially as here*-inbefore`described, of the 4fulling-mill beater,

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the vibrating fulling-bed apron, and means, substantially as described,for adjusting the apron with reference to the Working-face of the beaterWhile the mill is in motion and during the felting operation, as setforth.

2. The combination, in a beater fulling-mill, of the link longitudinallyreciprocated by connection with any movable part of the mill, the hingedapron coupled to said link, and an ad- Io jnsting hand-screwforpractically elongating 4. The combination, with the beater and itshelve, of a link pivoted tothe helve, a vibrating falling-bed apronconnected with said link, and an adjusting-screv/ for practicallyvarying the length of the link, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the beater-belve, the vibrating hingedfalling-bed apron, and

the link pivotally connected to said helve, of.

the rock-shaft, the levers and arms thereon, respectively connectedpivotally to said link and apron, and the adjusting hand-screw forvarying the relative positions of said levers and arms, and therebypractically elongating the link and varying the position in which thehinged apron vibrateS, substantially as described.

RUDOLF EICKEMEYER.

Vitnesses:

R. EICKEMEYER, J r., GEORGE NARR.

